Eric Johnston - The Japan Times

August 15, 2024

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Eric Johnston

Japan Times

JAPAN / KANSAI BEAT

Apr 25, 2002

Marist Brothers school hits 50 years in Kobe, regains its prequake stride

KOBE -- Marist Brothers International School in Suma Ward here celebrates its 50th anniversary this month.

JAPAN / KANSAI BEAT

Apr 20, 2002

NGOs target immigration center

OSAKA -- Amid concerns over allegations of human rights abuses at the West Japan Immigration Detention Center in Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture, local nongovernmental organizations will form an immigration watchdog group later this month.

JAPAN

Apr 19, 2002

Flawed MOX likely to be shipped back to Britain in June: Greenpeace

OSAKA -- Plutonium-uranium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel being stored at a nuclear plant in Takahama, Fukui Prefecture, will probably be shipped back to Britain in June, the environmental watchdog group Greenpeace said Thursday.

JAPAN

Apr 13, 2002

Hankyu to pull plug on its parks

OSAKA -- Citing huge losses in customers and revenues due to the opening of Universal Studios Japan in Osaka, Hankyu Corp. will pull out of the theme park business, closing its two affiliated parks over the next year.

Japan Times

BUSINESS

Apr 1, 2002

Beijing's WTO entry seen as start of Asia 'axis of virtue'

SINGAPORE -- China's entrance into the World Trade Organization does not represent a threat to the economic well-being of either Japan or the ASEAN countries. Rather, it marks the beginning of an axis of virtue in East and Southeast Asia and trade and investment opportunities for all.

COMMUNITY

Mar 31, 2002

Speaking in tongues with many a twist

A long time ago, in a university far, far away, I began studying Japanese with a text that our well-meaning instructors told us was standard Japanese, the kind of Japanese that could be used anywhere in Japan.

Events

Feb 19, 2002

Hard times spark rare, fiery debate at annual Kansai Economic Summit

OSAKA -- For the past four decades, the Kansai region's business leaders have gathered annually in February to discuss a variety of local economic issues.

COMMUNITY

Feb 17, 2002

Who's afraid of the Big Bad mouse?

OSAKA -- If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then for the past two decades Tokyo Disneyland has been the focus of much admiration. The stunning success of the theme park -- average annual visitors for the past 10 years is 17 million -- has spawned countless imitators across Japan. Apparently,...

COMMUNITY

Feb 17, 2002

Vive la Kansai-Kanto difference

OSAKA -- Despite corruption scandal after corruption scandal, there is still evidence that not all bureaucrats are bad. Driven by public interest, an army of elite government bureaucrats (and their corporate counterparts) are diligently investigating the really important issues that divide Kansai and...

BUSINESS

Feb 8, 2002

Kansai forum hears calls for innovation

OSAKA -- "No guts, no glory" was the rallying cry for nearly 400 Kansai area business and government leaders Thursday, the opening day of the 40th annual Kansai Economic Seminar.

Japan Times

Events

Feb 5, 2002

METI scrutiny, idle shipment cloud Kepco's plans for MOX

OSAKA -- The future of Kansai Electric Power Co.'s plans to use mixed uranium-plutonium oxide fuel is now in doubt following a decision late last year to cancel an order of French-made MOX fuel as well as uncertainty over when, and under what security conditions, a shipment of British-made MOX fuel could...

Events

Jan 22, 2002

City said plagued by crime, bad cops

OSAKA -- With the release of statistics that show Osaka leads the nation in crime, police and community leaders have formed a panel to propose legal changes to deal with the problem, including the addition of more officers.

COMMUNITY

Jan 20, 2002

Tandoori meets takoyaki in Kansai's Little India

KOBE -- The port city of Kobe, with the largest concentration of Americans and Europeans in the Kansai region, a few of whom have lived in Japan since the Taisho Era (1912-1926), has long been known as one of Japan's most Westernized cities.

Events

Jan 8, 2002

Osaka hopes concerns ease in 2002 over economy, crime, the homeless

OSAKA -- From concerns over the economy to renewed hopes for the pro baseball Hanshin Tigers, here are some local issues, in no particular order, that many people in the Kansai region are focusing on for the coming year.

JAPAN

Dec 24, 2001

Sun shines on USJ theme park as rest of city basks in gloom

OSAKA -- At first glance, major Osaka news stories over the past year would give even Santa Claus a bout of depression.

JAPAN

Dec 20, 2001

Kin of missing slam Pyongyang move

OSAKA -- The families of 10 people who Tokyo believes were abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s were outraged at Pyongyang's announcement this week that it was suspending an investigation into the case.

Events

Dec 11, 2001

Kobe Hash House joggers chalk up white powder snafu to experience

KOBE -- The recent anthrax attacks in the United States have caused panic throughout the world over the deadly bacteria.

JAPAN

Dec 8, 2001

U.S. code said cracked in '41

KOBE -- In mid-1941, as tensions between Japan and the United States mounted, Washington took extreme precautions to protect coded diplomatic messages between the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo and the State Department from being intercepted by the Japanese.

JAPAN

Nov 30, 2001

Ohta angered by calls for Kansai airport delay

OSAKA -- Kansai officials were angered Wednesday upon hearing that the central government wants to delay completion of the second phase of Kansai International Airport, which was initially scheduled to be built in 2007.

Japan Times

Events

Nov 13, 2001

Purse-snatching capital not image Osaka seeks

OSAKA -- Yoko Sumino (not her real name) was scared and angry. One evening last winter, the 34-year-old journalist was walking back to her apartment in the city's Joto Ward when the unexpected happened.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.

In search of the ‘Japanese dream’

By Thu-Huong Ha

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’

Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’

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